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Charlotte Knights
The Charlotte Knights are a minor league baseball team based in Charlotte, North Carolina. The team, which plays in the International League, is the Triple-A affiliate of the Chicago White Sox major-league club. The Knights currently play in Knights Stadium, located in Fort Mill, South Carolina. The Charlotte Knights begin play in their new stadium BB&T BallPark, located in Third Ward of Charlotte Uptown, in spring of 2014. History The Knights were created as the Charlotte O's in 1976. At that time, they were the AA affiliate of the Baltimore Orioles and played in the Southern League. The creation of the O's followed a 4-year absence of minor-league baseball in Charlotte. Charlotte had been a single A affiliate of the Minnesota Twins from the 1940s until 1972.Eventual major-league superstars Eddie Murray, 1976, Cal Ripken, Jr, 1980, and Curt Schilling (mid-1980's) played for the O's. Eventual major-league All-Star Eddie Murray was the O's original first-baseman. The O's were owned by the Crockett family, who had made their fortune in professional wrestling. In fact, wrestling announcer Tony Schiavone actually started out his career as the announcer for the O's (and after leaving wrestling, has been affiliated with the Atlanta Braves), and through the Crockett family entered the wrestling business. The team originally played in Jim Crockett Sr. Memorial Park,(formerly Griffith Stadium during the Twins affiliate era, named for the Twins owner Calvin Griffith) commonly referred to as Crockett Park. In the late 1980s, the stadium (mostly wood-framed) was destroyed by a massive fire after a high school baseball game. The Crockett family built a temporary grandstand on the same site for the 1988 season In 1989, George Shinn (who would later own the New Orleans Hornets NBA team) bought the team from the Crockett family. In 1989, the team was renamed the Knights and was now the AA affiliate of the Chicago Cubs. The team moved to suburban Fort Mill when Knights Stadium opened in 1990, located just off Interstate 77, next to the practice facility of Shinn's NBA team. (The arena next to Knights Stadium was renamed RLJ Arena in 2002, and became the Bobcats Training Center in 2004.) In 1991, Charlotte was awarded an International League franchise. They would become the AAA affiliate of the Cleveland Indians. Their first year in the International League was in 1993; that team included current major-league stars Jim Thome and Manny Ramírez. For the 1996-1997 seasons, the Knights were the AAA affiliate of the Florida Marlins. Before the 1998 season, George Shinn sold the Knights to N.C. businessman Don Beaver, who negotiated a AAA affiliation agreement with the Chicago White Sox. Notable former Knights under the White Sox affiliation include current White Sox pitcher Jon Garland and White Sox position player Joe Crede. This agreement has recently been extended to ensure that professsional baseball will remain in Charlotte for many years to come. Affiliations *Baltimore Orioles 1976-1988 *Chicago Cubs 1989-1992 *Cleveland Indians 1993-1995 *Florida Marlins 1996-1998 *Chicago White Sox 1998–present Titles The Knights have won the Governors' Cup, the championship of the IL, 2 times. *1993 - Defeated Rochester *1999 - Defeated Durham Alumni As the O's *Eddie Murray *Cal Ripken, Jr. *Curt Schilling As the Knights *Joe Borchard *José Canseco *Mark Clark *Livan Hernandez *Charles Nagy *Manny Ramírez *Jim Thome *Sammy Sosa External links * Charlottte Knights web site Category:Chicago White Sox Minor league affiliations * Category:Minor League Baseball teams Category:International League teams Category:Teams in North Carolina Category:Chicago White Sox affiliates Category:AAA Baseball Teams